Standard Chartered invests USD 250 mn in banking operations

Mumbai, Apr 16 (UNI) Standard Chartered Bank has invested another USD 250 million in its Indian banking operations, taking the total capital base to USD 1.9 billion.

This will bolster the Bank's capital adequacy and support the growth of the wholesale and consumer banking services. This includes key recent initiatives that widen the scope and quality of our services such as microfinance, private banking and mobile banking.

Standard Chartered is setting up a USD 500 million microfinance facility that will touch an estimated four million people in emerging markets. In India, the Bank will partner with more than 20 microfinance institutions by December, extend operations to the North and North-East, which are relatively untouched by the banking industry, and extend our strong capital market capabilities to microfinance institutions.

Standard Chartered Chief Executive Officer Peter Sands said, ''The Bank is honoured to have been associated with India over the past 150 years, witnessing and participating in the nation's emergence as a political and economic giant. Nothing conveys the solidarity of our commitment more strongly than our being here for this long. We have continuously invested in India over the years in our people, products, infrastructure and technology.'' ''As we look to the future, we see India as central to Standard Chartered's strategy. It is a big part of our business today, and will hold this place in the decades ahead given its huge potential.

We will continue to invest in growth, build new relationships, hire more people, develop new products and build on our position as one of India's leading banks,'' Mr Sands added.

The Bank is also investing in technology solutions to enhance customer experience. The Bank has recently launched a suite of Mobile Banking Solutions including Mobile Remittances, an instantaneous funds transfer facility. In addition to SMS-based solutions, the Bank will soon launch Java-based solutions, which are faster and more secure.